With the election of Barack Obama in 2008, people around the world applauded the United States for making a step forward in the fight to defeat racism and inequality.

Now, three years later, there is a scary trend going on in national polls regarding Obama’s performance as president as well as his handling on various issues.

In the latest CNN/ORC International Poll that included 1,036 adult Americans, signs of a racial line were clear.

On one question, “Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president?” Just 36 percent of “whites” approved, with 61 percent disapproving.

“Non-whites,” on the other hand, approved 67 percent of the time with just 32 percent disapproving.

This was the instance throughout the polls and got worse, when it delved into the issues.

When asked if they approved how Obama was dealing with the economy, the disparity was even larger, with 70 percent of “whites” disproving and 52 percent of “non-whites” approving.

Clearly, the racial line did not vanish with the election of President Obama and it seems we are in for a hell of a ride come election 2012.

American citizens voting for somebody simply because of the color of his/her skin is the single-most detrimental thing that could happen to our political landscape.

When issues like national health care, our presence in foreign lands, and the national debt should be at the forefront, but when the color of someone’s skin is a voter’s deciding factor, we are in trouble.

Now, I am not asking you to vote for Obama. I am not asking you to vote for a conservative candidate.

If you are, or are not, going to vote for Obama, let it be because he is a left-wing politico and doesn’t fit in with your beliefs.

And if you are, or are not, going to vote for Herman Cain, make the choice on whether he is a right-wing whack job, not because he is an African-American candidate.

When 95 percent of African-Americans voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 elections, those with any sort of education should have known that the racial line was still there.

There is no possible way that Obama’s beliefs and stances on the issues line up with 95 percent of any group of people in the entire world.

And now, three years later, we have more proof, with these polls, that it is still there and will be an elephant in the room come election time 2012.

I truly believe that the majority of American voters are the most educated and well-informed democratic body in the history of our planet.

If they can just get rid of their racial boundaries, our country will be on top of the world for decades to come.